Logs may be split into smaller pieces for storage, for immediate use as firewood, or for disposal among other purposes. One way to split logs is by using a hand tool, such as an axe. However, using a hand tool to split a large number of logs results in fatigue and increased risks of physical injury either from an accident, or from repetitive motion.
To better handle large numbers of logs, logs too large to split by hand, or logs that are particularly hard to split, powered log splitters of various designs have been developed. Some powered log splitters are designed to be portable on and with host vehicles. Portable powered log splitters include both permanently installed splitters on host vehicles built for log splitting, and removably installed splitters on multi-purpose host vehicles such as tractors or skid loaders.
Some removably installed log splitters can be difficult to install to a host vehicle. In particular, some designs require the user to lift the log splitter into position for installation. Even if a user has the strength to lift a machine capable of splitting logs it can be difficult to lift the machine, potentially weighing more than 200 pounds, while simultaneously maintaining the requisite coordination for proper installation.
Installation also is difficult for most powered log splitter attachments because of the operating controls for the splitter. Powered log splitters commonly use piston actuators. Portable piston actuated splitters typically use the host vehicle's hydraulic system to drive the piston. Installation of such splitters requires making connections to the host vehicle hydraulic system. Alternatively, the piston may be an original component of the host vehicle, with additional components added to make the host vehicle piston function as part of a log splitter. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,246 to Salladay and European Pat. App. No. 0038375-A1 to Berr require special parts to be added to the host vehicle in order to use the host vehicle's hydraulic cylinder. Because the host vehicle hydraulic systems and pistons are not usually designed for log splitting, such designs inherently are inefficient and unreliable.
A further problem with many powered log splitters is that the user must manually lift and position logs on the splitter. Such designs are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,712 to Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,503,894 to Gratkowski, U.S. Pat. No. 4,446,898 to Manteufel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,098 to Scott, U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,714 to Pratt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,549 to Williams, and PCT International Publication Number NO 92/21491 to Sleling. Many potential users may not even be able to lift the logs off the ground. Even if a potential user could lift a log, logs are heavy and present a risk of back injuries. Lifting ergonomics is easy to forget when performing the activity of log splitting. The positioning of the body to lift properly is not always the first thing on a person's mind. The risk of injury increases dramatically when logs of approximately twenty-four inches (24″) in diameter are lifted. Additionally, logs can be slippery when wet. This can add further risk of injury when lifting logs to be split. Moreover, in many designs where the user must manually position the log with respect to the splitter for operation, the user typically must stand by the splitter to operate the splitter controls. Standing by the splitter during operation reduces the efficiency of the machine because the host vehicle cannot be relocated or used to move logs during splitting operations.
In a few prior art designs, the user remains seated in or on the host vehicle both while operating the vehicle to pick up logs, and while operating the splitter. However, even designs permitting operation of the splitter from the host vehicle seat have drawbacks that limit splitting operation or maneuverability of the host vehicle. For example, some portable power log splitters are removably mounted to skid steer loaders. Each known log splitter of this type uses the hydraulic system of the skid steer loader to power the piston actuator of the splitter. In addition to the installation difficulties discussed above, in skid steer mounted designs where a log splitter longitudinal axis is parallel with the longitudinal axis of the skid steer, a log lying on the ground is difficult to align in the pick up opening of the splitter. Even for skid steer mounted log splitters where the log splitter longitudinal axis is transverse to the longitudinal axis of the skid steer, the turning principle of the skid steer limits the operator's ability to quickly align the opening for an efficient pickup of the log.
The problem of aligning the splitter to pick up a log is even worse for tractor towed log splitters. Many of these designs in operation are no different than a traditional log splitter where the operator stands next to the splitter to complete the work, except that the skid steer or tractor can be used to move the log splitter to a new splitting location. When the skid steer hydraulic system is used to power the portable log splitter, equipment run hours build up on the entire skid steer while the operator is really just standing in front of the loader splitting wood.
Known log splitters towed by tractors also have no capability to split wood into a truck bed. Known log splitters that are mounted on skid steers have only limited capability to split wood directly into a truck bed because of the height, range of motion, and tight design of the loader. In particular, the skid steer lifting arm design limits the lifting radius and height of the splitter. The geometry of the lifting arm relative to the skid steer chassis also makes it difficult to position a skid steer mounted log splitter over a truck bed. Thus, most known portable splitters are helpful for splitting logs, but do not enable simultaneous moving and splitting of logs, as would be helpful to make more efficient the time consuming task of loading split wood for transport.
Although the wood splitter disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,141 to Patterson can grasp logs resting on the ground and can move the logs over a receptacle before splitting the logs, the Patterson wood splitter is pivotally connected in hanging fashion to a boom of a host vehicle. The Patterson patent also has two rotatably connected components. Pivotally and rotatably connected components are complicated to assemble, require maintenance, and are structurally weak. The aforementioned characteristics make pivotally and rotatably connected assemblies undesirably expensive and difficult to retrofit to or install on standard multi-use tractors or other host vehicles.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a log splitter mountable on the loader arms of a front-loader tractor, combined with a system to supply the necessary hydraulics, which permits a user to load and split logs in an efficient manner with the further ability to move logs for storage or load logs for transport during the splitting operation. Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a log splitter device that overcomes the problems and drawbacks associated with prior art log splitter devices.